The passion

"Bringing a respectable woman home, finally?" He chortled.

"Something like that", The corner of my mouth tugged up into a smirk. My uncle might not recognize Rhes right away when he sees her again, but I had a feeling my aunt would with as much as she loved the ballet.

I knew I didn't have to worry about my uncle bringing up the first night I paid for Rhea with his wife around. If he did try to bring it up later, I would deal with it then. The thought of impressing my aunt with the city's Prima on my arm far outweighed anything snarky my uncle could say next week.

"As long as she can handle Annika, she's welcome", Nikolai shrugged.

"You think this one will be around long enough to accompany you to the Gala? If the gold diggers in this city see you there alone, they'll be on you like flies. Especially after that damn magazine came out."

I will have Rhea for three months. She certainly would be on my arm for the Gala. "I like to think she'll stick with me for that long", l responded to